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Chapter 1
Hildegard von Bingen
Play of Virtues (excerpt)
Chapter at a Glance
Listen to This First
The Clarity of Monophonic Texture
Historical Context: The Morality Play
Medieval Melody
Projecting Words Through Music
Connect Your Playlist: Monophony
Free Rhythm
Chapter Objectives
After reading the chapter and listening to the work, students should be able to:
1.2 Identify the monophonic texture of chant.
Play of Virtues with contemporary morality plays.
1.5 Explain how syllabic and melismatic passages function.
1.7 Explain how Hildegard defended music in the church.
Key Concepts
plainchant, monophony, conjunct and disjunct motion, cadences, free versus metered
rhythm, melismatic and syllabic text setting, medieval modes
Chapter Highlight: Plainchant
Plainchant consists of a single melodic line without accompaniment of any kind. This
texture was ideal for projecting words across the vast spaces of a large church. Hildegard
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Chapter Summary
The monophonic texture of plainchant helps the listener clearly understand a text.
Plainchant exists in different cultures from around the world, and it has a long history in
Western music. The early Christian liturgy included many plainchants that coalesced
into a relatively stable repertory by the eleventh century. When Hildegard von Bingen
composed her Play of Virtues (ca. 1150), plainchant had been the principal music of the
Christian church for centuries. In striving to communicate her texts, she realized that
music would more effectively fall on the ear of the listeners than words alone and thus
composed single lines of music for their delivery.
Listening Guide
The Listening Guide for Chapter 1 focuses on character, rhythm, word-music
MyMusicLab Resources
Animated Notation: Medieval Melody
Animated Notation: Projecting Words Through Music
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Discussion Topics and Critical Thinking Questions
1. Why do you think that a noble family of the Middle Ages would choose to send their 7–
year-old daughter to live in a convent and become a nun?
2. What is the connection of the Mass to morality plays like Play of Virtues?
3. In the excerpt from Play of Virtues, can we pinpoint design principles of repetition
6. How did the church modes color plainchant
the whole-step, half-step relationship of the degrees in the modal scales?
7. Look at examples of liturgical chant from the Middle Ages, such as the picture in the
textbook on page 24. Why do you think there are only four lines on the staff, when
most music we know has five? What does that say about the music?
Activities and Exercises
1. Have students listen to the Animated Notation: Medieval Melody several times, and
then have them sing along. Are they surprised at how easily they managed to sing this
plainchant? Ask them to consider what that means about plainchant.
2. Re-create the directive that was given to Hildegard by church authorities to recite the
words without music. What is the effect?
Journaling Prompt
Play of Virtues is a morality play that deals with issues seen as important
during her lifetime. If you were to write a morality play today, what would be your
subject?